The GBA/GBA SP AV Adapter is a new 3rd party accessory that
effectively transforms your GBA into an external Audio/Video
monitor. It has standard RCA inputs for both audio and video
and is thus compatible with any AV device that has an AV-Out
option.

The only thing that was in the box was the Adapter itself.
There weren't any instruction manuals or even a simple leaflet
to get you started. This isn't good, because as I discovered
later, the Adapter has some extra features that really needs
to be documented. Hopefully, mine was just a review set, and
not the final shipping product. Don't worry though, I'll explain
about the other functions later on in my review.

Installation

Installation was a breeze and even my technologically illiterate
grandparents could do it without a manual. To give you a better
picture, however, here's my installation procedure in list
form.

1. Remove whatever game cartridge you have in the GBA.
2. Insert the Adapter into the cartridge slot of the GBA.
3. Plug in one end of the AV cable (which is not included)
into the AV-Out ports of your device.
4. Plug in the other end of the AV cable into the Adapter.
(Note: Most AV devices follow the standard color coding where
Yellow is for the video signal and Red and White for sound.
Make sure you don't mix them up.)
5. Plug in you headphones in to the "headphone jack"
on the Adapter.
6. Turn on your AV device and then turn on your GBA.
7. If the cables are properly inserted, you should be able
to see the video on the GBA's screen and hear the sound through
your headphones.

Hooked up to a NGC.
Resident Evil Zero on screen.

Using The Tuner

As you can see, the installation was extremely simple and
using it isn't much tougher. Once everything is plugged in
correctly and you turn on the GBA, you'll see the usual "GameBoy"
flash screen on your display, followed by the video of whatever
device you've plugged into the adapter.

Like I said, I didn't like the fact that the Adapter arrived
without an instruction manual. Although it works the moment
you plug it in, you would never know that it actually had
functions to adjust the video display, unless of course like
me, you pressed every button and combinations of just to see
what would happen. Anyway, here is the list of functions that
I've discovered.

- Button "A" will take you forward through the
options, and "B" goes backwards.
-Shoulder button "L" and "R" respectively
adjusts the current option chosen. As default, it controls
the volume level (Note: the GBA volume control is not used).
- Button "Select" will refresh the screen, which
I believe is for trouble-shooting picture issues, although
I encountered none while using the Adapter.
- Button "Start" and the D-Pad do nothing.

The options that you can adjust are Brightness, Contrast,
Hue and Saturation which I found very impressive as it allowed
me to tweak the displayed video exactly to my liking. On its
own, the picture quality was pretty respectable, considering
the fact that GBA resolution is about one-fourth of a regular
TV screen. Audio playback requires you to use headphones plugged
in to the headphone jack provided on the adapter. It would
have been perfect if they could have made the sound play through
the GBA's onboard speakers, or like the TV Tuner, include
a small speaker on the Adapter itself.

PS2 : Ratchet & Clank.

What Could You Do With It?

For those of you who are now thinking of getting the Adapter,
here is a few of my own suggestions on what you could do with
it.

1) The Nintendo GameCube has a battery pack that you can
buy. With this in mind, you could use the Adapter and your
GBA as a monitor for your new "trans-portable" GameCube.
Cool!

2) Buy one of those combo CD/VCD discmans and hook it up
to the Adapter and your GBA. Now you can watch a movie on
the train or on the bus instead of just listening to music.
Cool!

3) If your parents won't let you watch VCD/DVD's past your
bedtime, buy a really long AV cable then hook it up to the
player and the Adapter on your GBA. Find a way to disguise
the wires and run it all the way to your bed. Now, when your
parents tell you to turn off the TV and go to bed, you can
hide under the covers and continue watching your movies with
the headset on. Cool! (If you get caught, please don't tell
them how you got the idea to do this.)

Family Guy DVD.

Conclusion

The Adapter is really a fun gadget and although not as feature
rich as the TV Tuner, is really quite useful if you need an
external monitor in a hurry. Thanks to Nintendo, the GBA's
display is more than up to the task, and its high resolution
can handle nearly any kind of video input from DVDs to home
consoles. Remember, however, that unlike the GBA SP, the regular
GBA doesn't have a front light, so if you use the Adapter
on the GBA, you will have problems viewing the screen in dark
or low-light conditions.

Anyway, my only request for future releases, or updates to
this great piece of hardware, is for external speaker support
and most importantly, a detailed instruction manual. Other
than that, the Adapter is certainly a great product, and something
that GBA gadget lovers would definitely like.

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